How to set up the Wekan project manager on Linux

Wekan is a kanban-style project management system for Linux servers. Its main purpose is to be a free, open Trello alternative that anyone can install. It’s low-maintenance, easy to use and is very similar to the favorite proprietary kanban style tools out there. In this guide, we’ll go over how to set up the Wekan project manager tool on your Linux server. We’ll cover both Snap and the Debian/Ubuntu script installation tool.

Note: Wekan does not need a server to run. Feel free to install this software on a desktop computer, as long as it’s always on and accessible on the network.

Snap installation

If you’re running a server and need to get the Wekan application running, the single best way to go about it is with the Snap release of the software. There are many reasons to go with Snap over, say, a traditional source-code installation. Here are the four best reasons to go with the Snap release.

Note: if you are using a RedHat, SUSE, Arch or Gentoo-based Linux server and plan on using Wekan, the Snap release is your only option, as the installation script only supports Debian and Ubuntu.

Snap packages often come pre-configured, so once installed, users do not need to set up Wekan, or any of the underlying technologies it depends on to run on a Linux server (PHP, SQL database, etc.).

Snap packages and the snapd system work on nearly every Linux operating system, ensuring that no matter what operating system you’re using — from Ubuntu to Gentoo, it’ll work and work well.

The Snap store is looked after by the creators of Ubuntu. We can’t guarantee that this means everything is super secure, but it does ensure that every package that goes up there has a review process, which will keep you safe.

The Wekan Snap package is sandboxed and wholly isolated from the rest of your server. Everything that happens within the Wekan snap stays there and cannot work outside of it.

Sold on using the Snap version of Wekan? Here’s what to do! Open up a terminal, log-in to your Linux server via SSH (or sit at it physically) and gain a root shell. Then, head over to our in-depth tutorial on how to set up snapd and the entire Snap package system on your machine. Then, when everything is set up, return to your terminal session and enter the following command to get the Wekan project manager up and running on your system!

snap install wekan

When the snap installation is complete, open up a new browser tab and enter the following IP address to access the Wekan project management system.

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At the Wekan web interface page, click the “register” button and sign up for a new account. Be sure to instruct other employers or team-members to do the same.

Updating Wekan via Snap

Need to update Wekan? Run the refresh command. Be sure that you regularly refresh your Snaps, as server software tends to get updates quite frequently.

sudo snap refresh

Removing Wekan via Snap

Looking to uninstall Wekan? Back up your project data, and anything else in the Wekan software that is important to you. Then run the remove command. Keep in mind that since we are dealing with a snap package, all of your data will be gone entirely upon uninstallation, and there is no way to recover it.

sudo snap remove wekan

Script installation

Are you using a Debian or Ubuntu-like server operating system? Want to use Wekan but don’t want to use the Snap package release? Lucky for you, the developers have an installation shell script up on GitHub. It’s automatic and will install and set up the entire Wekan system on your Linux PC.

The installation script hasn’t seen a lot of development in the last couple of years. Despite this, users can easily use it on servers running OSes like Ubuntu 18.04 Server and Debian 9 Stretch. To use the script, open up a terminal, gain a root shell with su or sudo -s and follow the instructions below, step-by-step.

Step 1: Update your Linux server and install any pending updates.

sudo apt update;sudo apt upgrade -y

or

sudo apt-get update;sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Step 2: Install the Git tool with your package manager.

sudo apt install git

or

sudo apt-get install git

Step 3: Download the latest auto-installation script.

git clone https://github.com/wekan/wekan-autoinstall.git

Step 4: Enter the script folder and run it to install Wekan. Be sure to follow the on-screen prompts and read them carefully.

cd wekan-autoinstall
./autoinstall_wekan.sh

When the installation script finishes, you’ll be able to access the Wekan web interface by opening up a new browser tab and entering the following address into it.

http://ip-address-of-server:8080

Now that you’ve got access to Wekan, find the “register” button on the page and sign up for an account. Keep in mind that everyone that wants to use your Wekan project board must sign up too.